Kennedy talked a lot about visual literacy and questions why we aren't taught to be visually literate when we are taught quantitative and written literacy. Because 90% of what we take in as human beings is visual, we should know and understand how to communicate visually.
Solid communication occurs when the form and function of an object is understood just by looking at it. On page 2 in White Space is not Your Enemy, there is a section which touches on form and function. A light switch is a simple case that can relate to this. I think most anyone who has ever used a light switch knows that if you want something to turn on, the switch is to be flipped upward and for the light off, the switch is flipped downward. It really bothers me when the switch is reversed, which doesn't happen often, but still. What's even worse is when there's a switch that doesn't appear to make anything in the room turn on or off (I had this predicament in my last apartment and it was awful).
Oh, Leah, your last comments made me chuckle! I know exactly what you mean. I have a few light switches that appear to do nothing in my house, and they make me nuts. Your post reminded me of one of comedian's Steven Wright's bits: “In my house there's this light switch that doesn't do anything. Every so often I would flick it on and off just to check. Yesterday, I got a call from a woman in Madagascar. She said, 'Cut it out.'”
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, you make a good point about form and function. At least for developed countries in which electricity is common and to be expected. I wonder if someone from a Third World country would understand what a light switch does and how it works upon first encountering one.
Just before I left for school today, I took a close look at the light switch in my kitchen. It was gross! I had to sanitize it before I could leave.
Help me understand something you wrote: "Every morning when I wake up and every night before I go to bed, I interact with the light switch on my bedroom wall. In the morning it's to turn off the fan, and in the evening it's to turn out the light when I'm ready to go to sleep." Wouldn't you be pushing the switch down to both turn off the fan and to turn off the light? Please clarify.
Yes, 90% of what we take in is visual. Glad you noted that Kennedy pointed that out.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Dawn